1. Technical Field
This invention relates generally to textile sleeves for protecting elongate members, and more particularly to a wrappable textile sleeve having an integral attachment device for attachment to a support surface and closure device for maintaining the sleeve in a wrapped configuration about the elongate member.
2. Related Art
It is known to wrap wires and wire harnesses in wrappable protective textile sleeves to provide protection to the wires against abrasion, fluid, thermal and electromagnetic interference effects. The textile sleeves are typically woven, braided, knitted, or crocheted, and then cut to a desired length, whether in manufacture or in the field. Further, the open construction, wrappable sleeves are known to be constructed at least in part from a heat-settable yarn, thereby allowing the wall of the sleeve to be heat-set into a self-wrapping, also referred to as a self-curling, configuration wherein opposite lengthwise extending edges of the sleeve overlap one another to completely enclose the elongate members being protected. Further yet, to ensure the wall of the sleeve remains properly wrapped about the elongate members, it is known to use closure devices, e.g. snaps, hook and loop fasteners, adhesive tape, and lacing tape, to keep the longitudinally extending free edges of the sleeve in overlapped relation with one another. Lacing tape, also referred to as ‘string’, is commonly used in aerospace applications wherein the lacing tape is generally provided on a bobbin and cut with scissors to provide the length necessary to close the sleeve within the technical specifications. The string is typically wrapped about the circumference of the wrapped sleeve wall whereupon free ends of the string are tied to form a knot, thereby maintaining the wall in its closed configuration. Although the string is effective to perform its intended function, it requires carrying inventory of separate string components, given it is supplied as a separate component from the sleeve. Further, the separate string component requires manual manipulation, including possible cutting to length and measurement to ensure the string is properly spaced along the length of the sleeve during application.
In addition, the wrappable sleeves, upon being wrapped about the elongate members, often need to be attached to a support member of the particular application to prevent the sleeve from moving relative to the support member. For example, the support member could be a frame member of an automotive vehicle or aircraft. In non-aircraft applications, the frame can often be constructed with fastener holes to facilitate attaching the sleeve to the frame via separate clips, for example. However, in the manufacture of frame structure for aircraft applications, holes are typically unwelcome, thereby making attaching the sleeve to the frame more challenging.